Bible Strands
Proverbs 17:12
It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom teacher addresses a general audience within a collection of practical instructions, placing this saying between warnings against rebellion and the cycle of retaliation.
The words — פָּג֬וֹשׁ (pa.Go.osh) means may he meet, and כּ֝סִ֗יל (ke.Sil) denotes a fool characterized by persistent foolishness.
The thread — The bear imagery appears in 2 Samuel 17:8 to describe the ferocity of David’s pursuers, in Hosea 13:8 as God’s judgment against Israel, and Proverbs 27:3 compares a fool’s aggravation to heavy burdens.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers recognize the immediate danger of engaging with irrational people, prioritizing avoidance over confrontation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 17:8 He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.
- Hosea 13:8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.
- Proverbs 27:3 A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
- Proverbs 28:15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
- 2 Kings 2:24 Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
- Matthew 2:16 When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.